International fiction reigns supreme with readers in list of Top 100 books

For nearly 20 years Whitcoulls has been asking New Zealanders to vote for their favourite books and authors. This year, more than 21,000 votes were cast and the results announced today demonstrate that Kiwis prefer to read international fiction.

Whitcoulls Head Book Buyer, Joan Mackenzie, laments the lack of New Zealand books making the cut this year, saying “there is some terrific fiction being written here, but it is hard to get visibility for local books when they are competing against so many high-profile international titles.”

That said, Mackenzie is delighted to see Eleanor Catton’s award-winning novel The Luminaries in the Top 100 again, albeit dropping from the number 10 spot last year to 46^th place in 2015. The two other Kiwi stars on the list are both non-fiction writers – Jason Shon Bennett and Dr Libby Weaver – with books published in the top selling health category.

Claiming the number one spot for the first time ever is Diana Gabaldon’s bestselling Outlander series. Always a firm favourite with readers, its elevation can in part be attributed to the series having recently screened on television. This trend of books on screen bringing people back to the books themselves is a fairly recent phenomenon, and one echoed in the Top 100 books. No fewer than nine titles in the top 20 of the 2015 list have been portrayed on screen; among them, A Game of Thrones, Fifty Shades of Grey and Gone Girl.

This year, the number two spot is filled by J. K. Rowling’s perennially popular Harry Potter series and at number three for the fourth year in a row is J. R. R. Tolkien’s classic novel, The Lord of the Rings. Always a favourite with readers, Tolkien’s novel has featured in the Top 100 books every year since Whitcoulls first started compiling their influential list in 1996.

Young adult titles continue to have a commanding presence in the list of Top 100 books. In addition to established titles such as The Hunger Games, and the Divergent trilogy, John Green has three books on the list this year, including The Fault in Our Stars, which was number one last year and now sits in 16^th place.

This year, a number of classy newcomers have stormed their way into the Top 100, including: All the Bright Places, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, The Girl on the Train, Kate Atkinson’s Life After Life, R.J. Palacio’s terrific young adult novel Wonder, and Mackenzie’s personal favourite, All the Light We Cannot See.

Non-fiction titles again make their presence felt. Mackenzie is especially pleased to see Laura Hillenbrand’s wonderful Unbroken getting the recognition it deserves. In total, 11 of the Top 100 are nonfiction, mostly in the fields of memoir and health.

There is a real consistency to the books which make the Top 100 books. New Zealanders are clearly loyal to their favourites but, as Mackenzie says, “the great thing about our Top 100 is that it showcases wonderful books to people who have not yet come across them, and often brings them to a whole new generation of readers.”

With so many readers casting their votes it is obvious that New Zealanders continue to be passionate about the books they love, and are happy to spread the word.

The Whitcoulls Top 100 books continues to be a source of outstanding reading recommendations, in which readers can have confidence that if thousands of other New Zealanders have loved a book, chances are, they will too.